Integrating online and offline channels for online customer loyalty: the moderating role of retailer credibility

Purpose Understanding customer behavior from the perspective of channel integration has become a major stream of research in multi-channel retailing literature. Yet, despite recent advancements in scholarship, how retailers can most effectively sustain customers in online retailing remains unclear. Scholars have suggested online-offline channel integration (OOCI) as an effective multi-channel approach for increasing online loyalty; yet, few studies have explored OOCI's influencing mechanism. This study addresses that gap by investigating how OOCI helps achieve customer loyalty online and further examines the moderating role of retailer credibility in the influencing mechanism of OOCI. Design/methodology/approach The research model driving this study draws upon the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model and cue consistency theory. The authors collected a sample of 259 customers in China with experience making multi-channel purchases from retailers that have implemented OOCI in online retailing. Structural equation modeling and response surface analyses were employed to conduct data analysis. Findings The results revealed that the relationship between OOCI and customers' online channel loyalty was mediated by customers' perceptions of the usefulness and risks of online channel usage. The results also found that congruence and incongruence between informational OOCI (IOOCI) and fulfillment OOCI (FOOCI) had different curvilinear associations with perceived online channel usefulness and perceived online channel risk. In addition, retailer credibility weakened the effects of IOOCI on perceived online channel usefulness and FOOCI on perceived online channel risk but strengthened the effect of IOOCI on perceived online channel risk and had no impact on the effect of FOOCI on perceived online channel risk. Originality/value Theoretical and practical implications of this study are also discussed.